Design, synthesis, and evaluation of antimony-based anion transporters

With the support of the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry, Professor François Gabbaï of Texas A&M University will investigate a class of compounds that may serve as transporter of negatively charged ions across artificial membranes that resemble those found in living cells. This project will study how the ion transport properties of these compounds can be influenced by their molecular constitution or by application of external stimulations.

Altogether, this project will likely lead to the creation of new fundamental knowledge in the biologically relevant area of ion transport while contributing to the education of students from diverse backgrounds. The principal investigator and his group will also engage elementary school students into the areas of science and technology through outreach activities involving K-6 students from Spanish/English dual language programs.

Finally, this project will also allow the principal investigator to remain involved in various service activities, including the mentoring of socioeconomically disadvantaged high school students.

This research project will investigate both neutral and charged antimony-Lewis acids for the transport of fluoride and chloride anions across phospholipid membranes of artificial vesicles. By synthesizing and investigating a structurally differentiated library of antimony derivatives, this research aims to uncover the multidimensional relationships connecting the anion transport properties of these cations in artificial vesicles to the hydrophobicity of their structures, the Lewis acidity of the antimony center, and the steric bulk present around the anion binding site.

Establishing these relationships will add key elements needed to gain an understanding of the vast compositional space within which these transporters can exist, thus enabling the design of new derivatives with tailored anion transport properties. This project will also explore antimony-based transporters that can be actuated by external stimuli such as redox agents or metal ions.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.